Day: June 23, 2016

Africa’s most outward-looking cargo carriers used this week’s Africa Air Cargo Summit in Addis Ababa to outline their expansion plans as they look to take advantage of international interest in the African economy. Both Ethiopian Cargo and Astral Aviation have medium-term plans to add freighters and/or international cargo hubs in Africa. Astral Aviation CEO Sanjeev Gadhia said his company wanted to add widebody and narrowbody freighters in the near future. Gadhia said Astral was looking to lease two 747Fs for operations outside of Africa, as well as six 737-400Fs for…

As Ethiopia moves moves to become one of the world’s top ten exporters of raw and refined sugar by 2023, the country is expanding its water infrastructure. State-owned Ethiopian Sugar Corp. has awarded to Israel-based design-build firm Baran Group a $90-million to engineer and construct a 61-kilometer-long irrigation network over 19,000 acres of sugar cane. Baran Group says the project includes design of water collection, pumping and storage facilities as well as electricity and operation systems for the network. The timetable calls for completion within 20 months. Israel’s Bank Hapolaim…

Ethiopia has decided to throw away 69 million condoms paid for by international donors to fight the spread of AIDS because they are extremely ‘poor quality’. The country’s Pharmaceuticals Fund and Supply Agency (PFSA) bought the condoms in a $2million (£1.38million) contract from an Indian company. The agency’s director Meskele Lera said said they were taking action to get the suppliers to ‘reimburse the money and cover all costs in the discarding process’. The condoms were paid for by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria but failed…

Kenya and Ethiopia have signed a deal for an oil pipeline that will run from Lamu to Addis Ababa under the Lapsset project. President Uhuru Kenyatta and Ethiopian Prime Minister Hailemariam Desalegn signed the pact during bilateral talks at State House, Nairobi, on Thursday. Please follow and like us:

Hundreds of Eritrean refugees and dissidents in Ethiopia demonstrated Thursday against alleged human rights abuses committed by their government back home, expressing support for a new U.N. commission report that accuses the government of crimes against humanity, including enslavement, rape and torture, over the past 25 years. Please follow and like us:

Ethiopia seems to be attracting the attention of economists interested in Africa, and for good reason. Except for Rwanda, Ethiopia is the only African country whose economic growth has been consistently high for more than a decade without relying on a natural resource boom. Please follow and like us:

Ethiopian Airlines has taken delivery of the first airbus aircraft in its fleet and the first of its kind in Africa. The carrier has ordered 14 with the first arriving later this month. Ethiopian are planning to make inflight wifi available on the aircraft but are yet to confirm a date for completion. Ethiopian Airlines CEO Tewolde GebreMariam said: “We are very pleased that Ethiopian has taken the leadership role in Africa and has become among the few leading airlines in the world to invest in this latest technology and…

The government of Eritrea told the U.N. Human Rights Council that its neighbor Ethiopia is planning to launch a full scale war against its territory. Eritrean and Ethiopian troops recently clashed along their border. The countries are blaming one another for starting recent hostilities that included heavy border fighting around the Tserona central front, an area located south of the Eritrean capital, Asmara. Please follow and like us: